Basket.



N0. 886,308. PATENTED APR. 28, 1908. L. E. & L. B. REYNOLDS.

BASKET.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 7, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

witnesses UNITED STATESLPATENT OFFICE.

LEANDER E. REYNOLDS AND LEANDERB. REYNOLDS. OF, GRAND RAPIDS. MICHIGAN; SAID LEANDER B. REYNOLDS ASSIGNOR 'IO SAID LEANDER E. REYNOLDS.

BASKET.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 28, 1 908.

Application filed August 7, 1905. Serial No. 273,183.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, LEANDER E. REY- xorns and LEANDER B. REYNOLDS, citizens form.

equivalent material and might be used for ditl'erent. purposes, and although certain features of the invention may be used with a basket which does not fold.

The object of the invention is toconstruct a basket suitable for a fruit package and in a very cllicient, economical and convenient This object we accomplish by the form and means of construction shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a ierspective view of a basket set up and complete without the cover. Fig.

. 2 represents the blank from which the main portion of the basket is formed up. Fig. 3 is an end view of the body of the basket, showing the way in which the flaps interlock. Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the basket through the handle, showing a modified form of handle attachment, Fig. 5 shows in perspective the reinforcing side and bottom )iece which permits a ventilated bottom. Fig. 6 .is a cross-section through the handle, showing the cover and the reinforcing sides and bottom in )osition. Fig. 7 is a plan of the blank from which the cover is made. Fig. 8 and Fig. 9 show in top plan and in side elevation a modified form of cover designed to be constructed of wood and used in special instances. Fig. 10 is a central horizontal crosssection on line y-y of Fig. 3. detail of part of the handle.

1 is the central portion of the main blank which eventually forms the main bottom piece.

4 and 5 are llaps turned up to form the side pieces, and 2 and 3 are flaps turned up to Fig. 11 is a.

form end pieces. Vt'e have shown this blank formed and scored so as to construct a slightly flaring basket, but evidently the angles can be changed so as to make the basket of any desired form.

.6, 7, 8 and 9 are flaps upon the ends of the. side pieces 4 and 5. They are preferably so cut and scored that when the blank is formed up, the sides, or what will then be the tops of these flaps, will be in the same ilane as the top-edges of the pieces 2, 3, 4 and 5. Two of these lla )S at diagonally op )osite corners, as 7 and 8, have cut out from them a recess having a neck 10 1t) and head 11 1 1 with shoulders 12 12. The other two diagonally opposite flaps, as 6 and 9, carry simiar bu slightly smaller neck and head13 14, with shoulders 15. Suitable holes for ventilation are provided in the side pieces 4 and 5, and in the central lower portion of the end pieces 2 and 3, as well as in the top piece 16. The blank for the cover shown in Fig. 7 has the central portion 16 and is provided with side flaps 17 1,7 and with end llaps 1H 18 scored so as to turn down at approximately right angles to the main, portion. 'lhese side and end ieces-preferably do not extend completely to the corner.

To give greater strength to the sides, and

to provide an elevated .and ventilated bottom, we construct the reinforcing piece shown in pers ective in'Fig. 5. This has sides 19 19 am bottom 20. The sides carry ventilating apertures registering with those of the side pieces 4 and 5. The bottom 20 also has ventilating a ertures and is made somewhat wider than t 1e bottom 1 and preferably scored down the center so that when forced down into )osition it will assume an. angular or arched 'orm, as indicated in Fig. 5 and shown especially in Fig. 6. By reason of the peculiar sha e of the various parts as shown, the venti ating apertures at the lower portion of end flaps 2 and 3 are not covered and permit the air to have access to the open space above the main bottom 1', and below thearched bottom 20, thus permitting perfect ventilation through the ottom as well as through the sides and top, and roviding at the same time an impervious ottom ,which, would prevent the accidental dripping of fruit juices with the resulting inconvenience or injury.

To carry the basket we have provided a handle of any suitable 0r customary form or material. We prefer wood on account of its corn arative cheapness and strength. This han e, bent up into the ordinary form, is shown by 22 in Figs. 1, 6 and 11, and in a modified form by 27in Fi 4. Upon that surface of the handle which when it is thus applied is the inner surface, we cut shoulders tapering from above and with a square shoulder below. This shoulder is shown in detail in Fig. 11 by the numeral 23.

In the sides of the basket we rovide slots or holes for the insertion of the andle, these bein shown as rectangular holes in the sides 4 an 5 in Fi 2. When the basket is folded up and com %ete, we insert the lower ends of the handle rom the outside and from'above through these openings, and then press the handle down until its ends strike the bottom of the basket u on the inside and arestopped thereby. Evi ently these ends sprin somewhat outwardly and therefore will ie fiat and close against the inside of the basket. To accommodate these handle ends we rovide correspondingly shaped and sized s ots 21 21 in'the sides of the reinforcing piece, as shown in Fig. 5. This reinforcing piece with its sides 19 will when it is first inserted take the position shown in Fig. 6, but as it is pressed down the bottom will. expand, the sides 19 will lie immediately a ainst the sides 4 and 5, and the slots 21 wil therefore engage the handle ends in the same plane and.

prevent them from moving in contact with the sides 4'and 5, and revent any rocking motion of the handle. hese slots therefore form in this way ahandle lock preventing lateral or rocking motion.

The shoulder 23 is so located that it will barely passlthrou h the openings in 5 and 4 before the ends 0 the handle reach the bottom of the basket. The constructionis then such that the upper ed es of the sides will be pressed inward ;1 by t e handle, and those portions of suc edges lying above these openings will s ring outwardly and interlock with the shouider 23, thus preventing the handle from being withdrawn upwardl Whenever it is desired to release the handl e, a slight inward pressure upon the u per edges of the sides at these points will re ease this lock.

In the modified form of construction shown in Fig. 4, designed especially for a lighter basket not so strong, we omit thereinforcing side and bottom piece, and provide the external side pieces each with two openings 28 and 29, ada ed to permit the handle to pass therethrougli. We then construct the engaging shoulder 23 on the handle at a point or points where it will engage the sides with a 1 der is therefore constructed upon the inner surface of the handle. We insert the handle ends from above and from the inside through the openings 28, and then from the outside through the openin s 29. These openings bein as shown of su stantially the width of the andle, it is locked against lateral or rocking motion, as well as against upward withdrawal.

When it is desired to form u a basket, the sides 4 and 5 of the main blan are bent up, and also the ends 2 and 3. The ends 6 and 8 are then brought together and locked out side of the end 2, this being accomplished by passing the head 14 from the outside inwardly through the head 11.' Thereupon, the tendency of the arts to sprin outwardly and the outward tendency of the end 2 causes theshoulders 15 to be and remain in contact and engagement with the shoulders 12, while the neck 13 lies within and in the plane of the neck 10. The tendency of the neck and head 13 14 is to pull away from the neck and head 10 11, but in the same plane, and therefore this tendency is resisted. By turnin the end flap 2 inwardly -and pressing the aps 6 and 8 inwardly at their interlocking point so that they no longer'occupy the same plane, but lie at an ang e to each other, this interlocking engagement between the shoulders 15 and 12 is released, and the head 14 can be withdrawn.

The same operation takes place, either in looking or unlocking, in relation to the end flaps 7 and 9 and the interlocking head and v neck carried by each.

When the basket is set up and the handle attached, the cover with the edge fla s turned down is placed in position. T 1e side flaps 17 17 may be tucked down between sides 4, 5, and reinforcing sides 19 19. To make a more perfect 'oint the end flaps 18 18 of the cover are' tuc ed down between the end pieces 2 and 3 and the outside fla s 6 and 8 and 7 and 9. This is particularly s iown in Fi 10.

Instead of using the form of cover shown and so far described, we sometimes find it advisable to use a wooden cover, made with end pieces 24 and top slats 25, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. In these end pieces are cut rooves 26, and these grooves fit over and own u on the top of the ends of the body ,of the has et and bind and hold together the several layers or ortions of the end, as the pieces 3, l8, 7 an 9 at one end and 2, 18, 8 and 6 at the other end in Fig. 10.

The special form of bottom shown in Figs.

and 6-not only provides ventilation, as l makea locking engagement with the shoulstated, but also serves as a spring, and

measurably obviates the jar otherwise cx-' perienced in handling or transportation.

We have shown my inter ockmg means carried by two opposing flaps upon thel turned-up sides, but, obviously, these locking means may be carried by any suitable portions of the adjacent sides and ends, which thereby become in substance the flaps we have described.

Having thus described our invention,- what we claim to have invented, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a folding basket, the combination 0 a bottom, turned-up sides carrying terminal locking flaps, and turned-up ends having the flaps bearing thereagainst, one of said flaps having a main opening extending ful y through the free end thereof continuous with an inner seat 0 ening havin a greater extent across the Wit th of the said fla than the main 0 ening, and the other flap having a terminal read connected thereto by a neck of the same width as the main opening in the first mentioned fla and freely movable through the latter, t e head being of greater length than the maximum extent of the said seat-openin whereby when the basket is set up the Iieads on the opposing flaps will engage and interlock with corresponding openings of the flaps and the interloc ed terminals of the said fia s lie in the same plane.

.2. In a folding basket, a main bottom having integral turned-up sides and ends, each of the sides having terminal locking flaps, the fla at one end of each side extending longitut inally through the outer end edge thereof and communicating with an inner opening having an extent transversely of the flap greater than the said longitudinal opening to form inner locking shoulders, the flap at the opposite end of the same side having a locking head connected thereto by a neck, the head of the latter flap havin a greater length than the width of the longitudinal opening of the first named flap and of the same length as the transverse extent of the said inner seat 0 ening, the neck being freely movable throng the longitudinal opening, the flaps with the openingsand heads bein in diagonal relation on the opposite sides and bendable inwardly over the ends and interlocking within the same plane.

'3. In a basket, the combination of the main body having a bottom, sides and ends, the basket sides having openin s therethrough, one in each, and a separab e handle having a shoulder upon the side thereof adjacent to the side of the basket, the extremities of the handle being insertible through the openings in the basket sides and such openings having free spring edges adapted to ders on the handle whereby the upward withdrawal of the handle is prtwcnted, the basket body as an entirety being of the knock-down type.

4. Ina folding basket, the combination of a main body having a foldable bottom, sides and ends, and a separable handle having the opposite extremities thereof rcmovably-engaging intermediate portions of the sides of the basket, the said extremities extending fully down over the sides and the terminals bearing against and braced by the bottom.

5. In a basket, the combination of a main body comprising a folding bottom, sides and ends, the sides having openings therein below the upper ed es thereof, and a separable handle removab y engaging the opposite sides of the body and inserted from the exterior inwardly through said openings, the ends of the extremities of the handles bearing against the inner side of the bottom and held against longitudinal movement whereby any rocking motion of the handle is prevented.

6. In a basket, the combination of a main body having a folding bottom, sides and ends, an inner reinforcing piece having side members with vertical slots, the sides of the main body also having openings therein below the upper edges thereof, and a separable handlev having the extremities inserted from the exterior inwardly through the openings in the sides of the body and also through the vertical slots of the reinforcing pieceand extending fully downwardly against the inner side of the body and terminally bearing against the bottom.

7. In a basket, the combination of a main body having a foldable bottom and sides and ends and an inside foldable reinforcing piece having sides parallel to the sides of the main body and also provided with an arched bottom rising centrally free from the bottom of the said main body, the inner reinforcing piece being removed from the main body of the basket.

8. In a folding basket, the combination of a bottom, turned-u ends, turned-up sides having terminal loc ing flaps, one llap having a slot opening out through the free end thereof and the other provided with a shouldered head to interlock over the turned-up end, and an inside reinforcing piece having sides parallel with the sides carrying the flaps and also having an arched bottom rising centrally free from the main bottom of the basket.

9. In a folding basket, the combination of a bottom, turned-up ends, turned-up sides havin terminal means to interlock over the supporting cross bars which rest upon the basket ends and formed with grooves one in our hands in presence of two, subscribing each exteniig ghe futlll lengtlkiJ theireci1 8.112s of witnesses. reater wi t t an t e com ine t ic ess f the folded portions forming the ends of the 5 basket, the said rooved cross bars of the Y Y J cover assisting in olding the end portions of Witnesses: the basket in secured association. I A. C. DEN'IsoN, In testimony whereof we have hereunto set MARY S. TOOKER. 

